The invention is directed to the mass merchandising of packaged food products, and particularly to products such as ice cream and yogurt, for example, that are typically displayed in refrigerated display cases.
Ice cream and yogurt frequently are marketed in round containers, provided with a removable top. Ice cream containers quite typically are tapered, with the larger diameter at the top. The containers may be provided in several sizes, such as pints, quarts, etc. Yogurt also is frequently packaged in round, tapered containers, with the larger diameter sometimes being at the bottom and sometimes at the top.
A great deal of store manpower is expended in loading the display cases, in an effort to provide an orderly and neat-appearing display of the merchandise. Additionally, merchandise such as ice cream and yogurt is perishable, and the stores try to be careful when restocking to place the new merchandise at the back of the display. This frequently is difficult and time consuming because of limited space in the display cabinets, with closely spaced overhead shelving restricting access to backs of the displays.
Notwithstanding the best intentions of the store keepers, their efforts to maintain a neat and orderly display frequently are frustrated by customer interactions. For example, a customer may remove an item from one area of the display, change his or her mind and replace it in a disorderly manner and/or in a wrong location in the display. Inasmuch as disorderly displays and misplaced merchandise tends to result in lower sales of the product, a great deal of time and effort of store personnel is devoted to the process of reorganizing and restocking products such as ice cream and yogurt.